New Book: “Sam Alito and the Triumph of the Conservative Legal Movement” by Peter Canellos
Michael Ramsey
Recently published, Revenge for the Sixties – Sam Alito and the Triumph of the Conservative Legal Movement, by Peter S. Canellos (Simon & Schuster 2026). Here is the book description from the publisher: The first-ever biography of the most pivotal Justice on the Supreme Court whose decisions, like the overturning of Roe, will drive the reshaping of […]
Laurence Claus: Courts Against Constitutional Capture
Michael Ramsey
Laurence Claus (University of San Diego School of Law) has posted Courts Against Constitutional Capture (20 Vienna Journal on International Constitutional Law (forthcoming, 2026)) (50 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: How can courts best help keep constitutional democracy alive? When institutions of constitutional democracy are being captured and turned to creating a different […]
Citizenship and Domicile of Smuggled Slaves
Andrew Hyman
During the oral arguments in the birthright citizenship case, Trump v. Barbara, Justice Barrett posed the following interesting question: General, you said in your reply brief that the children of slaves who were brought here unlawfully, you know, in defiance of laws forbidding the slave trade, would, in fact, be citizens….And you can imagine that […]
New Book: “The Legal Foundations of Religious Freedom” by John Witte and Andrea Pin
Michael Ramsey
Recently published, The Legal Foundations of Religious Freedom: Human Rights in the United States and Europe, by John Witte Jr. (Emory) and Andrea Pin (Padua) (Univ. of Notre Dame Press 2026). Here is the book description from Amazon: The Legal Foundations of Religious Freedom documents the essential interdependence of human rights and religious freedom in the […]
Divided Argument on Historical Practice
Michael Ramsey
At Divided Argument, Will Baude: A Scholarly Roundtable on History and Practice (with Christian Burset, Jonathan Green and Ryan Snyder). From the introduction: [Will Baude:] I’ve been very interested in a recent round of scholarship on history and tradition in legal interpretation, and I hosted a written roundtable discussion with the authors of three of […]
Aaron Nielson & Christopher Walker: Article II and the Civil Service
Michael Ramsey
Aaron L. Nielson (University of Texas at Austin School of Law) & Christopher J. Walker (University of Michigan Law School) have posted Article II and the Civil Service (Virginia Law Review, Vol. 113, forthcoming 2027) (58 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The federal government employs more than two million civil servants. Most are hired […]
Tyler Lindley: The Law of Certiorari
Michael Ramsey
Tyler B. Lindley (Brigham Young University – J. Reuben Clark Law School) has posted The Law of Certiorari (94 University of Chicago Law Review (forthcoming 2027)) (67 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: The Supreme Court’s current certiorari jurisdiction is a powerful tool for judicial agenda control. The conventional wisdom holds that no law […]
Birthright Citizenship Argument Today: Some Final Thoughts
Michael Ramsey
I think there’s a lot at stake for originalism here, beyond the particular issue of the case. Trump v. Barbara has been argued expressly on originalist grounds by both sides. Both sides are supported by sophisticated scholarship of dedicated academic originalists. As Larry Solum writes in his important post on the case, the originalist position […]
Matthew Lawrence & Mark Nevitt: Reviving the Military’s Term Limit
Michael Ramsey
Matthew B. Lawrence (Emory University School of Law) & Mark Nevitt (Emory University School of Law) have posted Reviving the Military’s Term Limit (G.W. L. Rev. (forthcoming)) (66 pages) on SSRN. Here is the abstract: This Article argues for the revival of a dormant constitutional safeguard that the Framers intended to keep the military accountable to the […]
Lawrence Solum on the Birthright Citizenship Litigation
Michael Ramsey
[Ed.: We’re lifting the birthright citizenship moratorium briefly in light of the importance of the linked post.] At Legal Theory Blog, Lawrence Solum: Six Thoughts on Originalism and the Birthright Citizenship Clause. Here is the first one: First Thought: Party Presentation Has Focused on the Original Meaning of the Clause Sometimes, the Supreme Court decides […]